


The Deadly Game of Secrets and How To Win

by AraneaHighwind



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Blood and Torture, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-14 05:31:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9164290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AraneaHighwind/pseuds/AraneaHighwind
Summary: Ignis is captured and Ardyn wants answers.  Noctis, Gladio, and Prompto now must infiltrate Formouth Garrison on their own to rescue him.  Hopefully they get there in time (of course they will).





	1. Withdrawn

"You _are_ going to tell me what I want to know." Ardyn's face was a thundercloud as he held Ignis's chin to force the advisor to look him in the eye. 

 

"Not likely," Ignis said in a low voice as his emerald eyes stared back.  Ardyn's face darkened further as he released Ignis's chin and dashed his hand across his face hard.  Ignis leveled a flat, angry stare at Ardyn, "And he is certainly not stupid enough to come here after me."  The problem with that statement is that Ignis knew it was false.  His liege was indeed not stupid; he was unfailingly kind and loyal.  He was very likely on his way at this very minute.  _And with no plan other than Gladio's probable insistence that they just barge in… Noct, coming here is a very bad idea.  But because I know you as well as I know myself… at least exercise the right amount of caution for the sake of Lucis… and the rest of the world._

 

Ardyn circled around Ignis.  Ignis shifted slightly, his arms raised above his head, each arm held by a different chain that was attached to the ceiling.  When he stood up straight, his arms were stretched high above his head, offering little slack.  Ignis saw Ardyn uncoil the whip he had brought with him.   _And here we go…_ he thought as he closed his eyes.  He exhaled and withdrew deep into his own mind as Ardyn began to rain blows across his bare shoulders and back.

 

_1… Ignis's mind drifted backwards to a memory.  He remembered this lesson with startling clarity.  He was 14 years old and sitting with his tutor in the Citadel's massive northern library when Headmaster Galdier entered and quietly dismissed his tutor._

 

_He circled to the front of the table Ignis was seated at.  Ignis had been dutifully reading the day's lecture on political ties that had existed before the Empire began its quest for world dominion.  Today's lecture was the nation of Accordo and its capital city of Altissia along with its "governing body"._

 

_Ignis stood quickly and bowed, "Headmaster Galdier.  It is an honor… how may I be of assistance?"_

 

_2… Galdier regarded the young teenager before him and an air of satisfaction crossed his features.  "I've heard very good reports on your progress, Ignis Scientia.  Today, your usual studies are canceled.  Instead, I must speak to you of certain matters that require attention.  Hopefully they will never come to pass, but you must be prepared for any eventuality."_

 

_Ignis looked up at Galdier, "Of course Headmaster."  Ignis paused, uncertain of where this conversation was going and  knowing it must be of great import.  Headmaster Galdier was current Advisor to the King and worked with Gladiolus Amicita's father._

 

_"As the Advisor to the future King, Ignis, you will be privy to information that the enemies of Lucis desperately want.  Whether it be affairs of state or the rumors of the King's bedchambers, it is vital that you keep this information secret.  And if duty calls for it, you will take it to your grave with you."_

 

 _Galdier turned to him and was met with a confused look_.  _"Headmaster, I'm not certain what it is you mean.  Why would I ever tell anyone such deeply guarded information?"_

 

_The Headmaster sighed and continued with a softer tone, "Ignis, the Empire will stop at nothing until the Kingdom of Lucis is brought low.  If you are captured, they will attempt to make you talk."  To emphasize his point, the Headmaster removed his suit jacket and long-sleeve shirt, neatly placing them on the table.  He paused for only a brief moment and looked at the young Advisor with slight apprehension before also removing his undershirt and folding it neatly before standing straight, his left side facing Ignis._

 

_Ignis inhaled sharply as the Headmaster turned around to reveal heavy scarring on his back and shoulders.  Instinctively, Ignis reached out tentatively having forgotten propriety and touched the heavy scars that zig-zagged across the Headmaster's back.  They were old wounds and at one time, Ignis imagined, very deep and potentially life-threatening.  He did not attempt to count how many scars were on the Headmaster's back and noted that several of them disappeared below the belt._

 

_Ignis sat down as he comprehended the nature of the conversation._

 

_3…  Galdier turned to face the young Advisor, his expression dark.  "Ignis, you will carry the secrets of Lucis to your grave.  This will be your only warning.  If you choose to step aside now, you will not be faulted in any way and another role will be assigned to you here in the Palace.  In the history of Lucis, 11 members of the King's court have been interrogated by the enemy.  Of those 11, only I have managed to keep the Oath of Silence faithfully.  If you agree to continue in your role as Advisor to the King and fail to keep the secrets of the Kingdom under all circumstances, you will labeled and executed as a traitor to the King.  I will have your answer now, if you please."_

 

_Ignis looked at the King's Advisor and saw larger scars across his torso and chest.  These scars were different from the ones on his back that looked like they were inflicted by a whip.  No, the scars on his chest were made with either a knife or a sword…_

 

_4…. Ignis hesitated as he examined further wounds on the King's Advisor.  "Sir, how does one keep secrets safe when… when the Empire seeks answers in this method?"_

 

Ignis's back began to bleed as the whip broke through the first layer of skin.  Ignis was momentarily drawn out of his thoughts as the pain level increased.  He gritted his teeth and stubbornly withdrew his thoughts from the moment. 

 

"It appears that you have been well-trained," Ardyn's oily voice came through.  "We shall see how long you can hold out… Where is the Prince? I will have..."

 

_5… "Your answer, Ignis." The Headmaster looked at the young man with compassion.  This would be among his most difficult lessons.  One as young as Ignis shouldn't have to take the Oath of Silence.  But the signs pointed to dire circumstances ahead.   It hadn't been easy for him either to comprehend for the first time the importance of keeping information safe and he had been 4 years older than this young student when he took his oath.  Times were different now.  Galdier knew the cruel fate that awaited the young Prince.  Perhaps fate was even more cruel with Ignis for the terrible burden he would have to bear on such young shoulders._

 

_Ignis knew of the Oath of Silence.  And he knew that this was what the Headmaster was calling him to take.  Of course he knew his answer. Ignis, even at this young an age, understood the complexities of his relationship with the Prince. And he knew that he would die for Noctis if he must. Ignis touched the scars on the Headmaster's chest and spoke clearly with as much confidence as he could muster, "I solemnly swear; the secrets of Lucis shall die with me before they are uttered to an enemy of the state."  Ignis silently cursed himself when his resolve was marred by a slight crack in his voice.  He was entering that stage of life where his voice was becoming deeper and richer in timbre._

 

_6… The Headmaster remained bare-chested as he began this uncomfortable, but crucial lesson.  "There are a few ways to help you cope with the methods the Empire employs to seek out answers."  Headmaster Galdier indicated the heavy scars on his chest and stomach.  "Their methods may change over time, I'm afraid.  The better you are at mastering your thoughts and setting up your mental defenses, the better off you will be.  Again, Ignis, I pray that it never comes to this.  You are one of the brightest the Kingdom has seen in many generations.  Your gift surpasses my own…"_

 

Ignis was actively engaged in one of these methods, the act of withdrawing his mind deep within itself.  The pain didn't stop, Ignis just passively reacted to it and forced his mind to ignore the input coming from the pain receptors in his body.  Ignis was yanked suddenly back to the present as a bucket of water was thrown at him.  His green eyes snapped open and he heard Ardyn's voice uncomfortably close.

 

"Breaking you will be fun," Ardyn crooned in his right ear as he grabbed Ignis's hair and yanked his head backward.  "I'm sure Headmaster Galdier attempted to prepare you for this… but he had no idea."

 

Ardyn showed Ignis the curved scythe in his hand, bringing the sharp steel within full view before very slowly and deliberately hooking the flesh on Ignis's chest on the sharp blade and very slowly drawing it across his chest.  Ignis exhaled sharply as the pain escalated further and the scythe cut past the skin and into the muscle tissue underneath.

 

Desperately, Ignis fought against the pain by slamming his mind shut again and withdrawing to the same memory.  Outside of his mind, Ardyn released his grip on his hair and resumed with the whip, bringing it to bear against Ignis's back with all the hatred and fury he could muster.  Blood dripped down Ignis's chest and back.

 

_7… "Your question was sound, Ignis.  I will be the one to teach you these methods as they involve more than just knowledge and how to implement said knowledge into a course of action.  For these lessons I will teach you how to close your mind against physical stimuli.  It won't be easy and no, I won't submit you to any form of physical punishment as a simulation.  These methods work… I've used them myself."_

 

_8… Ignis listened intently for the remainder of the afternoon.  Headmaster Galdier paused, "Ignis, does this frighten you?"_

 

_Ignis swallowed his fear as best he could, considering his answer.  "Yes, Headmaster Galdier.  I want to become strong enough to be able to … to handle something like this."_

 

_Galdier looked at his young pupil and could not help but be impressed.  The answer was mature.  It was an admission of fear and an honest desire to be prepared.  "Times are changing.  It is only a matter of time before you will be called into the active service of the King when Prince Noctis's time comes to ascend."_

 

_9… Headmaster Galdier regarded the young Advisor to the Prince and sighed before continuing.  "Please understand I am not sighing out of any frustration toward you.  To the contrary, I am very relieved to hear your answers, Ignis.  Your father would have been proud.  He and I studied together here in this very library.  But enough traveling down memory lane.  Forgive the interlude."_

 

_Ignis regarded the Headmaster before speaking, "Headmaster, if I may be frank, I can tell there is something you are withholding from me."  He swallowed hard, when Galdier turned sharply and bore into him with his dark brown eyes._

 

_"You are perceptive indeed, Ignis." Galdier resumed his lecture on how to withdraw the mind from the physical present._

 

_10…_

 

Ignis was breathing heavily as another bucket of icy cold water hit him.

 

"No reverie for you I'm afraid."  Ardyn set the bucket down and stood in front of Ignis with the scythe in his hand.  "Where is he?"

 

Ignis opened his eyes and leveled a cold gaze at Ardyn, "I don't know… he's not here."

 

Ardyn's face contorted with anger and his face broke into the face of a demon.  Ignis flinched at the sight and Ardyn cruelly shoved the scythe deep into the right side of his chest and began to yank it through the tissue.  Ignis screamed in pain.

 

The scythe ripped out of his lower left side and Ignis could see it was coated slick with blood and soft tissue.  This was definitely on par with what Headmaster Galdier had discussed.  Ignis desperately snatched his thoughts together.  Closing his eyes, he withdrew yet again deeper into his mind than before. 

 

Ardyn came back with the whip and proceeded to hit Ignis's back with even greater force.  With each blow, the whip made a sickening, wet snapping sound as blood splattered from his torn back.

 

_11… Ignis was running at a dead sprint down a dark corridor holding a large bundle of information  hastily written on paper in his arms.  He was headed toward a door and something was chasing him forward.  He dashed through the door and slammed it shut behind him.  It was a heavy steel door with a 26-number combination.  Each dial of the lock had a choice of 1-99._

 

_12… Ignis slumped behind the door in his mind as pain beat on the other side.  Ignis did as he was trained and concentrated on the 26 numbers of the combination.  Inside the door and directly in front of him was the northern library of the Citadel just as he had remembered it.  In here, his secrets would be safe.  He was certain of death before he could give away the numbers of the lock._

 

13… Ignis had mentally prepared his final defense as he came back to full consciousness.  He was losing blood fast and it was only a short matter of time before the blood-loss rendered him unconscious and useless to Ardyn.  Death would follow soon after.  He hoped.

 

Ardyn came back around to his front.  Ignis panted softly, keenly aware of the rivers of blood that were dripping down his legs and pooling at his feet.  Ardyn's face had returned to normal and he was holding the scythe again.

 

"Surely the old King had something up his sleeve.  He died well I'm told.  You should also know, your Headmaster died at my hands." 

 

He came around to Ignis's front and walked over to where the buckets of water sat in the corner along with large sacks.  He placed his hand in one and came up with a handful of salt.  He pressed the salt directly against one of the deeper wounds in Ignis's chest.  Ignis gritted his teeth and hissed as the salt was rubbed into his wounds.

 

He held the scythe up, covered in blood and soft tissue.  "He died to this very weapon actually.  To his credit, he told me nothing of where you had gone and before I slit his throat he only uttered one thing.  That you were well prepared for the task ahead.  Rather flattering.  So, then… what exactly is this task he eluded to?"

 

Ignis wanted to laugh.  He shifted his arms uncomfortably overhead.  The metal cuffs around his wrists dug into his skin and were rubbing against raw flesh.  There had been no plan except to get the future King safely out of Insomnia and on his way to his wedding.  Ignis himself had been told nothing further.  Ignis realized now how intelligent Headmaster Galdier was.  And exactly how much he believed in Ignis to have sent him out in the direst of circumstances with the knowledge that the Academy's best student had been given the resources to complete his task and carry out his duties.  More than that, Ignis realized that Death could not be an option.  Though he swore to himself in that moment that he would die before Noctis even had a hand laid on him, he would not die here because the King in waiting was going to need him.

 

"No answer," Ardyn said as he approached with the scythe.

 

"92."  Ignis countered… the first number on the combination lock. 

 

Ardyn grazed his chest with the scythe, uncomprehending.  "92?"  Ignis nodded.  The scythe entered his flesh at the top left and Ignis screamed in pain as Ardyn drew it slowly downward, cutting through the flesh.  Ignis's knees buckled with the pain and the cuffs holding his arms chained to the ceiling bit into the skin on his wrists.  Ignis was losing consciousness.  And in his mind, the first tumbler on the lock fell.


	2. A Lover's Caress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis is putting up a strong fight in the area of physical torture so Ardyn tries something more sinister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to change the ratings here. This got dark really fast and apparently I'm sicker in the head than I thought.

The scent of iron was the first thing to hit Ignis's senses as he slowly came to.  His arms ached and when he tried to move, he remembered why: they were suspended above his head on separate chains.  Chains that he had been dangling from for however long. 

 

Ignis had lost track of time.  He raised his head slowly to check his injuries and noted the blood still dribbling down his chest from 3 long slashes of Ardyn's favorite weapon.  He couldn't see his back but he immediately recalled how many times the whip has struck: 13. 

 

Ignis closed his eyes and swallowed hard.  He was so thirsty.  His hands had lost all feeling from being left dangling by his arms.  The metal cuffs had dug into his wrists and blood was trickling there as well, snaking its way down his arms to his shoulders and joining the ruined mess of flesh on his back.  He struggled his way through the hazy, thick fog of pain to find himself inside the northern library of the Citadel.  One tumbler down.  25 to go.  In his mind's eye he sat with his back to the closed door.  Should it come to pass that the door opened, he would make good on his promise to Headmaster Galdier and find a way to end his life before giving away secrets of the crown to an enemy of the state.  _And in particular: this enemy._  He thought angrily and his resolve returned.

 

Noctis was undoubtedly on his way with the others now.  Though he wasn't sure of the time, he could see through the narrow slitted window at the top of the room that the skies were dark.

 

Ignis struggled to his feet, if only to give his hands and wrists some respite.  As he did, he heard movement behind him.

 

"Glad to see you've returned."  Ardyn whispered into his ear.  "Since physical torture alone appears to be mildly ineffective… and let's face it, you will probably gladly give in to Death before it's over, we shall try another route."

 

Ardyn reached around his waist and unbuttoned Ignis's trousers then slowly unzipped them, letting them fall to the pool of drying blood on the floor.  Ignis's heart began to pound in his chest.

 

 Ignis remembered this part of the lecture as well.  It had occurred a week after the first.  And Ignis remembered at age 14, this part had scared him the most.

 

_He withdrew into his headspace again, back to the library with the heavily fortified door.  He was 14 and seated at a table while Headmaster Galdier sat opposite him to discuss this delicate subject.  Ignis looked at the Headmaster who sat in silence across the table.  The only sound was the ticking of the grand clock on the wall.  Ignis waited for the man to initiate the conversation and grew more nervous as the Headmaster sat saying nothing._

 

_Finally unable to bear the silence, Ignis spoke.  "Headmaster, what is it?"_

 

_"Ignis, there is another method of torture the Empire likes to employ to extract information from even the bravest of men."  Headmaster Galdier hesitated uncomfortably then looked at Ignis squarely and began describing the second half of the torture he had endured at the hands of the Empire before King Regis had been able to mount a rescue._

 

_Ignis's eyes widened and he protectively crossed his arms over his chest as he listened to the older man first describe the concept of sexual torture and the method employed as a defense.  As the lecture continued, the door of the library began to rattle again.  Something was trying to get in.  14 year old Ignis stared at the door, then back at Headmaster Galdier, who seemed to notice nothing out of the ordinary and was continuing his lecture._

 

_Ignis suddenly found himself with his back against the locked door, frantically reciting the numbers of the combination._

 

Ardyn reached around Ignis's body and reached into the front of his boxers, grabbing for Ignis's cock.  Ignis drew breath rapidly and fought to remain in control of his mind.  Ardyn pressed himself against Ignis and Ignis realized Ardyn was naked.  Ignis thought his body was too warm.  It felt like his flesh was burning against his own.

 

Ignis let out a low moan of pain as Ardyn's hand squeezed his cock and testicles hard.  His face turned red despite himself as his cock responded against his wishes and turned hard in Ardyn's vice-like grip.

 

"Does Noct ever touch you like this?"  Ardyn's hated voice slithered in from behind.  Ardyn slowly began to stroke his cock, purring in pleasure as it grew harder and longer in his hands.  "I'm sure Noct loves it when he gets to be with you like this." 

 

Ignis had no answer for this.  This part of the lecture had not been accompanied by meditation or mental practice, just the description of where to take his mind when this aspect of torture began.   His eyes snapped shut and he instantly regretted retreating into his mind.

 

_He was no longer alone in the northern library of the Citadel.  Noctis was sitting on the floor opposite him and the door of the library groaned and squealed on its hinges as something was trying futilely to get through.  Night had fallen and the library was dark save for a few lamps lit along the wall. Ignis was riveted by the sight of Noctis with his eyes burning red.  He turned his attention to the door, frantically running through the numbers of the combination lock.  He knew what was immediately on the other side._

 

_"Iggy," Noctis crooned softly as he crawled toward him on all fours, his eyes glowing a deep red instead of their normal oceanic blue.  As he got closer, Ignis could feel the crackle of Noctis's magic raising the hair on the back of his neck._

 

_"Noctis… I… " Ignis fumbled in his mind.  He had long known of his feelings for the Prince.  Countless nights  spent together in his bed as Ignis tried to help the young Prince get back to sleep after one his nightmares.  The relationship they had was very intimate and they had toed the line of appropriate and inappropriate before.  But this…_

 

Ardyn lowered Ignis's boxers to the ground, freeing up his hard cock and he held it fast.  Ignis left his mind-space in desperation, not wanting to cross this line with his charge, his liege, and his best friend.  Ignis realized with a sharp pang of despair he was well and truly in trouble.

 

Ardyn hummed against Ignis's back as he continued to stroke him.  He hesitated once and wiped the precum off his cock, and sucked it off of his fingers.  Ignis felt sick to his stomach but was more afraid of retreating into his mind.  Ignis's mind was dangerously close to the edge of panic when Ardyn reached around with his other hand holding the scythe.  It had been cleaned off from yesterday and the metallic blade glinted ominously. 

 

Ardyn sadistically laughed as the scythe entered Ignis's lower torso, a few inches above his hard cock.  Ignis shrieked in pain and fled into his mind as blood dripped down between his legs.  Ardyn pooled some blood in his hand and returned to stroking Ignis, using his blood as lubricant.

 

_Noctis's head bobbed up and down along the length of Ignis in the library.  Ignis moaned softly in pleasure.  Noctis sat up for a moment, "Iggy, do you like this?"_

 

_Ignis was breathless and unable to answer.  Yes he did.  But his mind was rejecting the thought as his proper and orderly self knew how inappropriate this was.  The library wavered as Noctis's hands reached up his shirt to caress his advisor's chest.  Ignis closed his eyes as gentle sparks of Noctis's magic could be felt along the length of his body.  Ignis fearfully watched as the library wavered again.  If he lost this space, the dangerous game would be over and Ardyn would be allowed into his mind with free reign._

 

_His heart hammered in his chest as Noctis moved forward within inches of his face, his crimson eyes burning with magic and passion.  Ignis didn't protest at all when Noctis's lips touched his.  He felt something wet against his lips and opened his mouth to receive Noctis's tongue._

 

_The library solidified as he moved past his natural rejection of Noctis's advances.  Something banged against the door hard and Noctis's magic began to burn like fire against his lower abdomen.  Ignis screamed and instantly was yanked out of the library in his mind._

 

Ardyn shoved his cock deep into Ignis's anus, using his blood as lubricant.  His breath felt hot against Ignis's neck.  The scythe again was slashing across his lower abdomen.  This was the burning sensation he had felt.  Ignis felt like his mind was coming unhinged as it flickered between the present and the dim library in the Citadel.  One instant it was excruciating pain with Ardyn filling him up and cutting him open and the next he was facing Noctis in the library of the Citadel, his eyes glowing seductively.  Finally he gave in to the present and only felt Ardyn's urgent thrusting. 

 

Ignis felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes and he refused stubbornly to let them fall.  He would not come undone at this hands of this fiend.  He tried to relax in the present, knowing that the bigger man was almost at his climax.  The pain from being cut open had caused Ignis to go limp.

 

Ardyn's breathing sped up and his thrusting became more urgent and finally as he released, Ignis screamed again as Ardyn used the scythe to cut open his lower abdomen.  The scythe sliced across the top of Ignis's cock, almost severing it from his body as he came deep in his ass.  Ardyn slowly pulled himself out and Ignis hung slack against the chains, letting the metal cuffs cut into his wrists.

 

Ignis knew he was in deep trouble.  The pain was so great and his body humiliated that he could no longer retreat into his mind.  He didn't want Noctis to see him like this, after all.  His breathing was ragged as Ardyn whispered from behind, "Where is the Prince?"

 

Ignis stood up painfully and glanced over his shoulder.  His emerald green eyes were filled with hate, "It wasn't my turn to watch him, so you can fuck off."  Ignis retorted.  Ignis hoped making Ardyn angry would force him to resort to brutal violence, which he preferred to this other torture.  In the back of his mind, he thought that this was something Noctis might have said in an angry, heated moment.  It seemed suiting.

 

Ardyn's face grew angry and his slashed at the raw flesh of Ignis's back with the scythe repeatedly, no longer caring if he killed him.  Ignis cried out in pain over and over as the scythe slashed across his torn shoulders repeatedly.  Finally Ardyn stopped.  He circled around Ignis to the sacks filled with salt and helped himself to a cup sitting inside the sack.  It was used to measure the amount of salt for distribution at a market.  He filled the cup to the brim and stood behind Ignis.  He poured the salt over Ignis's shoulders and roughly rubbed it against his broken skin with his free hand.  Ignis groaned in pain.

 

"What is the Prince's plan?"  Ardyn came around to Ignis's front and dangled the scythe in front of his face.  There was a commotion outside and sirens blasted the silence of the night outside.

 

Ignis smiled brokenly at Ardyn, "47."  A heavy slash of the scythe cut across his right shoulder and grazed the front of his neck.  Ignis's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he hung limply from the ceiling, unconscious. 

 

_Deep in the recesses of his mind, the second tumbler fell as he sat with his back to the library's door.  Ignis wearily removed his glasses in the solitude of the library at night and drew his legs to his chest and rested his head against his arms.  Noctis had come for him.  He looked up when he detected movement in the library.  Before him stood Headmaster Galdier, older like the last time he had seen him before leaving Insomnia behind.  He smiled and patted Ignis on the shoulder silently before vanishing._


	3. Deadly Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis learns some important things about Ardyn as his interrogation begins to slip.

_It seemed odd, though.  The clock in the north library of the Citadel kept on ticking but never tolled the hour.  Or quarter hour, or half or 3/4 hour.  Ignis had waited for what he was sure was in excess of an hour and never heard it toll once.  The library was dark as full night descended and Noctis was nowhere to be seen.  Ignis continued to sit with his back against the heavy door with the 26-digit combination._

 

_92-47-35-16-42-85-53-75-12-11-25-10-84-3-98-65-39-76-82-2-27-61-29-94-84-1.  Ignis had never felt so tired in his life.  He wondered idly if the Prince always felt somewhat tired like this.  It would explain his insistence on sleeping in.  Ignis rested his head against the door when it suddenly was violently slammed against from the outside._

 

Ignis slowly raised his dripping head.  Another bucket of cold water.  This was tiresome and he wished he could just remain unconscious.  This time as he checked himself over, he saw fresh blood still dripping from his torn chest and lower abdomen.  He felt cold like he had taken a chill.  By his observation it was less than 30 minutes after the last time he had passed out.  Everything hurt, by his account.  In particular he tried to focus on the pain he could do something about.  He tried to stand, but had minimal success before he was hanging again by cuffs that held his wrists high above his head.  Blood dripped from his wrists where the metal cuffs had cut into them from supporting his body weight.  There was the sensation in his wrists that the cuffs had grown considerably tighter, though Ignis knew that his wrists were swollen.  Something felt wrong about his left wrist, almost as though it were fractured or broken.  It was painful any time he tried to move his fingers.

 

Ardyn came into view, his face a mask of unbridled fury.  "Well I guess we know where the Prince is at."  He tilted his head slightly to indicate the door and the loud sirens blaring in the night.  He sliced open the remaining 3 sacks of salt and poured the marginally emptied sack and a full sack of salt into one of two remaining buckets.  He poured the final 2 sacks of of salt into the last bucket of water.

 

"Then I suppose you'd best run along, Ardyn."  Ignis filled the other man's name with as much hate as he could muster in his weakened condition.  "I'd imagine his Highness might see something that will upset him mightily when he comes through the door."  Ignis was so thirsty.  "I'd not want to be within 10 miles of this location when he arrives.  As a matter of fact, I'd be headed for Gralea were I in your shoes."

 

Ignis noted that Ardyn was fully clothed again, a fact for which he was thankful.  Weakly, he tried to stand again to bring relief to his cut wrists.  His feet slipped in the puddle of blood and hampered by his pants which were still pulled down.  As his full body weight came to bear against the cuffs, he grunted softly in pain.  The metal chafed his broken skin, cutting deeper into his wrists.  He gave up and hung listlessly from the ceiling, blood dribbling down his arms.

 

"We are not quite done yet."  Ardyn uncoiled a different whip then before- a cat-o'-nine-tails and Ignis summoned his remaining strength to resist.  Ignis knew that this was going to be much more painful than before.  He had read about and had seen illustrations of wounds caused by this particular type of whip- it was something the Empire had never used before.  Instead the history books had attributed this implement to earlier, more barbaric nations than the Empire of Nifleheim.

 

Ardyn noticed his wary look, "Oh... this.  This hasn't been used for centuries now.  It was outlawed in all lands quite some time ago because of how... barbaric this tool is.  It was determined that its use was too cruel and harsh for civilized nations to resort to.  I am curious, however, to see if it yields faster results.  Let us find out if this is what will break you, or if it is what will kill you."

 

_14…_

 

Ardyn brought the whip against his back hard.  It easily snapped through the drying and coagulating blood, opening the wounds again as it created new welts and slashes.  This whip, unlike the first, had 9 smaller cords with a small, sharp piece of metal embedded at the end of each cord.  The tails slashed across his back, leaving 9 parallel cuts behind.  Ignis flinched this time with the first blow; it was infinitely more painful.

  

"Where is the Oracle?"  Ardyn asked point blank, "She was in the Crown City when it was… taken.  But someone helped her to escape.  I can only imagine it was you four daring young heroes."

 

Ignis looked over his shoulder at Ardyn, "35." 

 

_15…_

 

The whip came down again and Ignis exhaled sharply, too deeply exhausted to freely withdraw into his mind.  But he internally sensed it as the third tumbler fell.

  

"You can end this suffering whenever you wish.  I just want to know now where the Oracle is."  Ardyn was close behind him again.  Ignis pulled away slightly before his legs failed him and he was once again dangling painfully from the chains.  "Where has she gone?  She has something of value that she stole away from Insomnia."

 

"16."  Ignis responded immediately through the haze of pain.

 

"Most men die from this particular whip.  Only a few strikes inflict so many wounds that it quickly becomes completely unbearable.  I can only imagine this is far worse than before.  If you'd tell me what I want to know, the pain would end.  Since you continue to refuse, well..."

 

_16… Ignis thought that Ardyn's line of question was growing more desperate… and careless.  He struggled to put the pieces together.  Lunafreya had vanished out from under the Empire's nose.  In Insomnia of all places._

 

_17…_

 

Ignis groaned in pain as his back bled freely, blood dripping onto the floor from the parallel cuts the cat-o'-nine-tails produced.  Every time the whip struck it ripped open his flesh, cutting progressively deeper and drawing more blood.  Only 4 strikes in had produced 36 lacerations.  "Where is she?"  Ardyn asked, sounding almost bored.

 

"42."  Ignis responded, sounding equally bored, but really on the verge of passing out.  He felt cold.

 

 _18… Ignis inhaled sharply as the 9 tails ripped across several previous cuts, slicing away a layer of skin in the middle of his back and leaving it hanging in a thick, wet strip.  He found himself back in the library with his back to the door.  5 of the tumblers were down.  Ignis knew now why Headmaster Galdier had recommended the number 26.  Ignis knew he would be dead before he reached the 10th number in the combination._ _The door of the library again had something violently slammed against the outside._

 

Another bucket of water revived him.  Ignis hadn't even realized that he was passed out.  The wounds sizzled with pain that registered clearly on his face.  "Can't take a break yet."  Ardyn held the bucket up, "Oh, and that was salt water.  The barbarians that used this tool before knew that salt water was much more painful."  Ardyn emptied the bucket onto Ignis's shoulders.  After the water was emptied, he scraped his hand into the bucket to draw out some of the salt at the bottom and rubbed it directly against where the 9 tails had struck near the center of his back.  Ardyn absently pulled at the loose strip of flesh with his salt covered fingers and then mercilessly ripped it away.  Ignis cried out and tried to pull away.  "I must say, Ignis Scientia, I respect your strength and fortitude in keeping your oath to your King… the King of a broken country that is no more.  Why, if my own advisor had been as sound as you are…"

 

Ardyn stopped, realizing he had spoken too much.  Weakened and shivering, Ignis nonetheless caught the implication.  "You are not Imperial-born, are you?"  He said it quietly. 

 

Ardyn's face turned angry.  Ignis was obtaining more information out of him than he was obtaining as to the Oracle's whereabouts.  "Where is the Oracle?  You are close to death, then what good will you be to your King?"

 

"85."  Ignis responded weakly in a voice barely more than a whisper.  

 

 _19…_ _He gathered his thoughts and focused his mind on Noctis's oceanic blue eyes.  The image came to his mind easily and Noctis watched the proceedings, flinching sympathetically as the cat-o'-nine-tails came down hard.  It split his flesh 9 times, digging ever deeper and drawing more blood from deep within the muscle tissue of his back._

  

Ardyn drew his arm backward and the whip uncoiled behind him before he swung as hard as he could.  Ignis knew that the Empire's Chancellor intended to kill him if he refused to provide the answers he wanted.  Ardyn wiped Ignis's blood off his face as it splattered him, but was heedless of the blood that stained his clothing from every strike of the whip.

 

_20..._

 

Ignis cried out as the whip landed hard for the 20th time against his right side kidney, the 9 tails cutting deep.  The pain flared all over his body it felt like and he shivered from the cold.  That's when he felt it.  It wasn't just the cold anymore.  There was the tingling of Noctis's magic.  He was very close.   Blood freely flowed out of his back as the whip cut deeper into the flesh and severed the network of veins and arteries traversing the flesh.

 

Through the haze of pain he figured out the line of questions.  He stood slowly, painfully and turned to face Ardyn.  It was becoming a struggle to breathe and he panted heavily before speaking.  Everything hurt.

 

"She has the Ring of the Lucii, doesn't she?  And you have no idea where you've lost her…."  Ignis licked his lips.  So thirsty.

 

Ardyn's face twisted with rage.  He angrily drew his arm backward and then swung the whip as hard as he could against Ignis's chest.  Ignis screamed in pain as the 9 tails whipped mercilessly across the deep scythe wounds, cutting them open and gashing his skin in 9 parallel lines.  He hit him a second time across his chest using all his strength and leverage.  Ignis's blood splattered outward and onto Ardyn as he continued to hold the whip aloft.  Ignis realized he had won the game of deadly secrets.  There would be no more questions and instead Ardyn had entirely focused his energy on killing him in the most painful way he had available.  The third strike tore through his chest muscles and as a result it became nearly impossible to breathe while hanging from his arms.  Ignis stopped crying out in pain as he felt the chill hand of death closing in.  Ardyn smiled cruelly and drew his arm back.  He was coated in Ignis's blood.  The 9 tailed whip had cut his chest open.  Ardyn yelled as he swung the whip forward in an overhead strike.  Ignis moved his head to the side and the 9 tails slashed into his right shoulder and down his right side.  Ardyn drew his arm back, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.  He knew this next blow would be the killing stroke.

 

Ignis heard a loud roar of rage as the door splintered into a thousand pieces.  Ardyn disappeared, the cat-o'-nine-tails falling to the ground.  Gladio's hulking frame was in the doorway, but it was Noctis who entered first, somehow managing to squeeze past his bodyguard.

 

"Ignis!"  Noctis froze as he took in the sight of his advisor's battered body, suspended naked from the ceiling.  Noctis thought he was going to throw up.  There was so much blood and his skin was stained red as was his normally immaculate hair.  It reminded Noctis of the time he had stumbled across a dead bird in the road as a boy.  It had been hit by a car or had flown into one and its broken wings were splayed out unnaturally with its feathers scattered around its crushed, lifeless body.

 

"Highness…"  Ignis whispered as his head bowed forward.  He was so cold, but the pain mercifully abated as he lost consciousness.  The cuffs held him fast.

 

_75-12-11-25-10-84-3-98-65-39-76-82-2-27-61-29-94-84-1…  the remaining tumblers on the door fell one after another in the library deep in Ignis's mind and the library vanished into nothingness.  Ignis smiled tiredly to himself.  His essence vanished along with the library as he fell into a deep, unconscious state, no longer needing to protect his thoughts._

 

"Iggy!"  Noctis unfroze when he saw Ignis's head drop forward on his shoulders.  He ran into the room and slipped as he got close to Ignis.  He stood and looked at the floor in horror.  He had slipped in blood.  Ignis's rapidly cooling blood coated his right forearm where he had fallen.  He could see it staining most of his right side.

 

Gladio gently moved Noctis aside and went to Ignis's side.  With a swift strike, the chains were broken and he caught Ignis's limp figure with ease.  Ignis was completely unresponsive as he bled onto Gladio's shoulder.  Gladio carried him aside to a dry part of the floor.

 

Noctis approached slowly and knelt on the other side of Ignis as Gladio set him down as gently as he could.  He saw the torn state of Ignis's body in a pool of light and tried to prop him onto his lap where he could immediately begin trying to heal him.  Prompto came running through the door with Gladio's field kit and began handing over potions, but after further thought started handing over elixirs. 

 

Noctis looked at the wounds on his chest first, his eyes drawn to the torn flesh where the 9 tails had struck.  The skin was split in a criss-cross pattern where the 9 tails had opened the skin.  In the places where the blows crossed over each other, the cuts had pieces of torn flesh pulled back and away from his body.  Nearest to the edges of his injuries the flesh was angry red in some places and turning a black and blue color in others.

 

Noctis emptied elixir after elixir on Ignis's wounds.  The deep marks on his chest stopped bleeding as well as the slashes on his lower abdomen.  Gladio grimly took the damp cloth Prompto offered and slowly dabbed at Ignis's chest, gingerly trying to clear away the blood so he could see the extent of the wounds before turning him over.  The blows from the 9 tailed whip were by far the worst, even compared to the singular cuts that appeared to have been made by a small, curved hand held blade.  Noctis's face blanched when he noticed the heavy slash across Ignis's genitals but poured elixir there as well.  Noctis and Gladio began to turn Ignis's inert form over, both horrified as their hands touched the broken flesh of his back and shoulders and came away bloody.

 

Ignis returned to consciousness as they attempted to turn him over and they stopped as he whimpered in pain.  Gladio took hold of him by his right forearm and gently tried to move him onto his stomach so he could treat his devastated back.  Ignis turned to look at Noctis, his eyes glassed over with pain.  "Highness, please... let me sleep."

 

Noctis fought to hold back tears.  Ignis was asking him to let him die?  "No, Iggy.  I can't do this without you.  I can't just let you go!  Damn you, stay with us.  Don't give up, Ignis.  Please..." 

 

Ignis looked away and seemed to be slowly considering before his eyes focused on Gladio and he began to try and move onto his stomach.  Gladio helped him as gently as he could.  Ignis moved very slowly and each slight movement felt like it set his back on fire again.  He pushed himself up slightly to move his left shoulder to the side and hissed loudly as the motion pulled and tore at the deep gashes on his back.  He finally settled painfully onto his stomach with his arms out to the side.  He turned his head to the side and faced Noctis, searching the depths of Noctis's deep blue eyes.  His emerald-green eyes were slightly unfocused due to the extreme pain in his back.

 

They all gasped when they saw the torn flesh of his back in the light.  They could see that there were far more cuts on his back than his chest.  Here the 9 tails had left crossing marks so many times that there were several places on his back where the flesh was cut so deep that the top layer of skin was gone.  On the left side of his back toward the center, a flap of flesh was folded over.  In other places the skin clung in ribbons that looked like they could easily fall off his back if he just stood up.  Any bruising was hidden under a layer of torn skin and blood.  The damage was far worse here and Gladio quietly cursed himself for not attending to his back first.

 

Ignis seemed to hear because he responded, "No, Gladio, the wounds are far more dangerous inflicted on the front of the body."  He closed his eyes as Noctis began to unstopper the curatives remaining: hi-potions.

 

"What is this thing?"  Prompto whispered as he picked up the cat-o'-nine-tails.  As he came into the light, he dropped the whip hastily.  Blood laced the 9 tails of the whip along with pieces of flesh hooked into the knots on the ends.

 

"It's a whip that was outlawed by all nations long ago because of the damage it does.  Not even the Empire has used it before until now.  It's what caused most of Iggy's injuries.  Apparently the Empire's Chancellor wanted answers very badly.  It looks like Ardyn came close to killing Iggy before we got here."  Gladio said quietly.  He wondered if the Empire had gotten what they wanted.  Surely not, if Ignis had been brought this close to meeting Death.

 

"There's a bucket of water here.  Maybe we can use this to clean the wound up some," Gladio stood up and brought the bucket close.  He tipped the bucket slightly, thinking he would gently pour the water over the wounds.  Ignis was in so much pain he wasn't paying any attention to Gladio until he felt the water slowly pouring over his lower back.  Ignis instantly starting screaming and writhing on the floor weakly as he felt the salt entering the lacerations.  The water cut through the drying blood to reveal the heavy lacerations underneath and providing a clear path quickly for the salt that flowed out of the bucket steadily with the water.

 

"Stop!"  Ignis protested weakly, "For the love of the Six, stop... please, Gladio."

 

Gladio turned the bucket back upright, "What's wrong?  We need to try and clean those wounds out before we start throwing curatives on them."

 

Ignis looked up at Gladio in fear.  "Please, don't.  Ardyn... it's salt water..."  Ignis stuttered and closed his eyes.  "Please.."

 

Gladio set the bucket down and dipped the tip of one finger in the water.  He tasted the water and instantly knew the salt content of the water was very high.  He noticed the other empty buckets set in a corner of the room sitting next to large, emptied sacks of pure salt.  It appeared one sack of salt had been used for each bucket of water, which would have guaranteed a very high salt content per bucket.  "Ardyn Izunia threw this at you to keep you awake, didn't he Iggy?  The salt content is pretty high.  That must've hurt like hell.  Fuck, I'm sorry Iggy.  I didn't know."  Gladio silently cursed his lack of attention.  He looked in the bottom of the bucket and could see a large amount of salt blending in with the white bucket.  In the light, the water was clouded with the disintegrated salt mixed in.  He went to the corner where the empty buckets were and noticed that only one other bucket showed obvious traces of having held any salt.  It coated the inside of the empty bucket in a thin layer of white residue.

 

Ignis nodded slightly and closed his eyes again.  "It wasn't until the last bucket that he threw the water directly at the wounds..."  He had lost so much blood.  The wounds on his back continued to ooze blood and plasma as his body tried desperately to close the open wounds.

 

Gladio looked over at Noctis.  They both began pouring the remaining hi-potions in the field kit over his back.  Prompto came over and gently took each of Ignis's wrists in turn, picking the locks of the iron cuffs until they fell off.  Noctis gently poured the last hi-potions on each wrist until the wounds closed.  In the end, Ignis's back was a mess of tangled scars.  The three friends worked together to wrap Ignis in their own jackets.  Ignis's shirt and tailored suit jacket were retrieved.  The rest of his clothes were irreparably stained with blood.  Prompto wordlessly picked up Ignis's glasses from where they lay in a corner of the room.

 

No one spoke as Gladio carried Ignis back to the Regalia.  Noctis climbed into the back and Gladio laid him on the back seat with his head in Noctis's lap.  He and Prompto wordlessly got in and Gladio began driving as quickly as he dared toward Lestallum.  A crowded caravan wasn't going to cut it.  Gladio looked in the rearview mirror, afraid of what he would have to do if Ignis had betrayed them all.  Gladio had never seen anything even close to the level of torture Ignis had just endured.  All except Headmaster Galdier had betrayed the Oath of Silence.  And all except Headmaster Galdier had been harshly dealt with, as per the laws of Lucis; they had been executed.  Ignis let out a quiet, pained moan in the back seat as he slept.  Gladio stomped on the gas; this was a worry for another day.  For now he had a friend to help and Lestallum was far away.

 

Noctis saw his amber gaze and unreadable expression, but was too worried about his advisor to think much of it.


	4. Lingering Nightmare

_Ignis was sure of it. He had gone and caught a chill. He can't seem to get warm but he has his duties to attend to. He closes the windows in the library before settling in to go over the morning's strategy meeting with Noctis. The Empire is becoming far too bold for Lucis to sit back any longer._

 

_As he closes the last window and sits down, another breeze picks up and he feels chilled. He looks up and the windows are all open._

 

_"Noct, I hope this isn't your idea of a game," he says irritably. Ignis felt exhausted from a couple of sleepless nights filled with bad dreams that he was being tortured for information. To top it off, he feels the cold air from outside more than usual._

 

_He stands up and sighs then turns to go close the windows yet again. As he turns, he is immediately accosted by the visage of Ardyn Izunia. His face is twisted into the face of a demon with yellow lantern eyes peering out of darkened eye sockets under his wide-brimmed hat._

 

_Ignis chokes back a startled oath and attempts to summon his daggers. No magic and his hands remain empty as the demon pounces on him. Ardyn is slashing at him with his bare hands. Excruciating pain flares as he feels the claws digging into him. Ignis can feel his blood ebbing out onto the floor of the library as Ardyn's demonic claws slash at his neck._

 

_How did that vile daemon get into the north library of the Citadel?_

 

Noctis held onto Ignis in the back seat of the Regalia as his friend tossed restlessly. He put his hands alongside Ignis's forehead and scarred chest and willed him to calm down. It seemed to work as Ignis stopped tossing in the back seat and slipped back into dreamless subconscious. Prompto cast a worried glance at the back seat and Gladio stomped on the gas.

 

It was past 1:00am when they finally arrived in Lestallum. Gladio parked in the middle of the street closest to the hotel, not caring if the Regalia would be blocking traffic in the morning. A young boy ran toward the Regalia.

 

Gladio got out and scooped Ignis up. They found a blanket in the Regalia to wrap him in. "Talcott, is the hotel room ready?"

 

"Yes sir, Gladio, sir." Talcott says. "I've got everything ready to go. And Lestallum's head doctor is waiting."

 

"Thanks Talcott," Gladio said smiling warmly at the young boy as he hurried past with Ignis in his arms. Prompto got out of the Regalia and grabbed their bags. Noctis joined him along with Talcott and they hurried to the hotel after Gladio.

 

Noctis was surprised to see the entire hotel staff was up and waiting. He was shown to the room he, Prompto, and Gladio will share and he threw their bags unceremoniously on the bed.  Gladio met them in their room after leaving Ignis in the care of the doctor.

 

"The doctor and her team are getting Ignis cleaned up.  We should be able to speak to her soon."  Gladio retrieved his bag and went to change out of his bloodstained outfit.  He was followed by Prompto and Noctis.

 

Noctis felt better after showering.  He shuddered under the warm water as it cut through the dried blood on his skin and washed it down the drain.  He finished quickly, half-gagging as the soap cut through the remaining dried blood on his arms.  Noctis closed his eyes as the hot water ran over his face.  There had been so much blood.  So much of Ignis's blood pooled on the floor in the garrison.

 

Noctis toweled himself off and dressed before going into the adjoining room to his own where Ignis lay in the single bed while the doctor looked over his wounds.

 

"Did you clean these wounds before throwing curatives at them?" The doctor looked up. Her hair is black as raven feathers and she has the look of someone who lives off the coast, not a Lestallum native.

 

"I… um." Noctis stammers.

 

"There really wasn't time or a good place to administer aid when we got to him doc," Gladio said.

 

"Then we will worry about infections later if it becomes a problem." The doctor stood up, "Prince Noctis, my name is Adriana Stanis. I worked in a hospital in Insomnia before the Empire moved in. My father was the chief royal surgeon…" She pauses, "I am relieved to see that you are all ok. Count Scientia will take some time to recover. My father saw to and tended Headmaster Galdier after he had his run-in with the Empire. Although I don't believe those wounds were anything along the order of what we see here... The underground loyalists have taken care of the hotel cost through the next few weeks. No one knows that you are here."

 

Noctis nodded mutely for a moment, not knowing what to say. "Thank you," he finally managed. Adriana bowed slightly as she exited.

 

"I've left some medication for the pain. Even though the wounds are closed, you should expect them to ache and hurt for the next 7-10 days.  He will need to be excessively careful to not reopen them.  The scar tissue is still new, even if it was formed rapidly by curatives. Doubtless this is what saved his life.  I've not witnessed a beating as severe as his and am not sure that his body would have been able to begin the healing process on its own.  The scars are still warm to the touch and inflamed, which is normal.  If he becomes feverish, send for me immediately.  I will be by in the morning to check in."

 

Noctis sat down on the bed worriedly. Gladio grabbed Prompto and they headed to the adjoining room, leaving Noctis alone with his advisor. The door to the adjoining room closed and Noctis kicked off his boots before climbing into bed. Ignis stirred slightly and turned into Noctis's side just underneath his chin, nuzzling his throat.

 

Noctis put his arms around Ignis and lay still, feeling unsure of what to do with this strange role reversal. Ignis would probably die of mortification if he was aware and cognizant of what he was doing. Noctis pulled his advisor a little closer. His mind drifted back to the room where Ignis had been held against his will as Gladio burst in. Noctis clearly remembered seeing Ardyn Izunia holding the scythe to Ignis's throat, but it was the remembrance of his friend's broken body hanging from the ceiling that Noctis ingrained in his mind. Ardyn was going to pay. In the dark, his eyes glowed red as his magic built up in anger.

 

_Ignis was walking through the Citadel, still caught deep within the recesses of his own mind. He was heading for the King's cabinet meeting with Headmaster Galdier. Ignis stopped suddenly._

 

_"Ignis, is something the matter?" asked the advisor to King Regis._

 

_Ignis didn't answer immediately as he figured out what had made him stop. He detected the presence of Noctis's magic close by. He could sense rage and anger in the Prince and he dropped his papers. Time seemed to stop as he watched the papers flutter to the ground with unnatural slowness._

 

_He looked up at the Headmaster. This was wrong- all of it. Headmaster Galdier was dead. And the Citadel had been laid to ruin. The hallway of the Citadel darkened as if nightfall had come within a few short seconds and Headmaster Galdier's face twisted hideously into the face of a daemon._

 

_Ignis stepped back and drew on Noctis's magic, summoning his daggers._

 

Ignis's body tensed as he lay in Noctis's arms. Noctis drew him closer to his side. "Ignis?"

 

Ignis woke from his lingering nightmare, panting like he had sprinted a mile. He shuddered violently as the memories of the last 48 hours came flooding back and he pulled away from Noctis. He sat up and groaned softly as the sudden movement pulled at the freshly healing scars on his abdomen and back.

 

Noctis sat up and drew his advisor into an embrace as Ignis had done with him so many times in the past. "Iggy…" Noctis called softly. Ignis looked at Noctis and his green eyes seemed to see past him.  Slowly, his eyes focused on Noctis.  It wasn't his nickname that brought him back to the present, but rather the soft tone with which it was spoken.  He had heard his nickname spoken quietly in the dead of night so many times. He put his arms around Noctis and tried to calm his breathing. In the dark, a subtle blue hint of magic encircled them.

 

Noctis listened as Ignis's heart slowed itself, noting that his advisor was trembling. He thought he could sense the other man's fear as the nightmare that had followed him into the waking world slowly, reluctantly let Ignis go and retreated back into the shadows.

 

Noctis looked up at Ignis and Ignis was instantly reminded of the Citadel's library. The eyes that regarded him were glowing red with magic… and something else. Ignis felt so tired. He laid back down, watching Noctis's glowing red eyes above him. He felt the pull of Noctis's power more strongly than before. Noctis leaned over and his lips touched Ignis's forehead lightly in a feathery kiss.

 

Ignis didn't protest or hold Noctis back. Ignis realized that something had changed between him and Noctis. More specifically, something had changed about the way Noctis's magic affected him. It called out to him, buzzed through his very being like a living flame whenever Noctis was close. He was certain that Noctis could be across the city, maybe even across the country and Ignis would instinctively sense where he was. And more than that, Ignis realized for the first time that he could identify Noctis's emotions by just sensing the current of his magic.  It felt warm coursing through his veins like standing in a gentle breeze during the spring.  Ignis at the moment was reminded of the pages of a new book, crisp and fresh-smelling.   The power of the crystal that reached through the Prince exercised a gentle pull on him. Ignis knew from his studies that this was a normal evolution that those close to the King of Lucis underwent so he accepted it as what it was. Several volumes had been written about this subject alone, detailing stages of progress and leading up to case studies where the death of a king had extended to one or more of his retainers, who had been found dead only minutes later.  Their lives had become inter-connected to the power of their king.  And now Ignis sensed the same had occurred to him.  He made a mental note to himself to have conversations with Gladio and Prompto.  Prompto especially, given that he was more likely to pass it off as "just being Noctis's bros".

 

Noctis looked down at Ignis, and traced his fingers gently over the fresh scars on his chest.  "You look worse than Gladio," he smiled softly and leaned forward, pressing his lips against Ignis's. He could sense a change in his advisor. For once, Ignis wasn't trying to push him away. Not wanting to ruin the moment, Noctis pulled away slightly to run his fingers along the deepest scar that began on his right shoulder. The scar ran almost horizontally to his left side, passing over his throat just above his collarbones. That scar was still an angry red.  Noctis's fingers moved lower to the deep swathe of scars caused by the cat-o'-nine-tails on his chest.  36 lacerations were covered by newly formed scars and they looked weeks old because of the elixirs.

 

Noctis realized he was being overcome with emotion, "He almost killed you, Iggy. I'm going to make that bastard pay." Ignis detected the change in power as Noctis's magic washed over him, carrying undertones of rage as it had in his dream.

 

"I'm still here Noct. Thanks to all of you." Ignis paused and was unable to stop himself from adding, "That was a very reckless move to enter the garrison.  But I am grateful. I… I knew you would come for me. That is what made it possible to survive."

 

Noctis smiled and relaxed. His eyes returned to their oceanic blue color as he laid back down next to Ignis. "You're welcome, Specs." Noctis hesitated before asking, "Are… are you sure you're alright?"

 

Ignis smiled back sleepily, "Yes, Highness. Just a bit worse for wear at the moment."

 

Noctis exhaled slowly, feeling reassured. Nonetheless as he laid down, he pulled Ignis close to him. Ignis promptly fell back asleep, this time falling into a dreamless space as Noctis held him close. Noctis gently ran his free hand over the network of fresh scars on Ignis's back.  He paused and his fingers traced a small circle over the worst area near the center of his back.  The cat-o'-nine-tails had struck 7 times and had left 63 heavy lacerations, completely stripping the skin in places where the lacerations crossed each other repeatedly.  "Ardyn is definitely going to answer for a lot of things when I catch up to him."

 

Very early in the morning, at 5:00am, Gladio peers into the room.  Noctis had never come to bed, but he knew where he was.  Gladio fretted over his possible dilemma, remembering the promise and oath he had taken before his father as the King's Shield just 7 years ago.

 

_Gladio had taken the morning off at his father's request.  They had gone to the Citadel's courtyard and they had discussed the Oath of Silence.  Gladio was 16 years old.  The sun was shining on a beautiful day in the practice courtyard._

 

_"Gladio," his father stopped in the shade of the Citadel to regard his son, "As the King's Shield, you have one more responsibility that goes beyond the Oath of Silence.  If any member of the King's circle betrays the Oath of Silence, it is your job as the King's Shield to ensure swift execution of the Oathbreaker.  Even should he one of the King's retainers, you will do this without fail.  Do you understand?"_

 

_"Yes, Father.  I swear to carry out my duties as the King's Shield with honor and pride.  No harm shall befall the King while I live and I shall execute any that break the Oath as required."_

 

He sees the pair curled up in each other's arms and it's such a familiar sight.  Gladio had checked in on the two of them without fail when they were all younger.  He was no stranger to the young Prince's sleeping habits and knew about every single night he had gone to wake Ignis to find comfort from nightmares and other things that go bump in the night.  Gladio was very observant.  He knew about the feelings the Prince and his Advisor held for each other.  But it still did not alleviate his fears.  If nothing else, their intimate relationship is what had made Ignis the target of the Empire.  He would confront Ignis about it when he was better.  Until then, Gladio knew he wasn't going to get any rest, but he quietly closed the door unnoticed and went back to bed.

 


	5. Whiplash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of brutal torture, Noctis does everything he can to bring his Advisor back from the edge.

Evening had come.  Ignis finished toweling off slowly, mindful of the rough terrycloth against his battered skin.  He wrapped the towel around his waist and leaned closer into the mirror to peer at his face.  He sighed.  The mirror was fogged over from the heat of the bath he had just taken.  Ignis looked around for a hand towel and found one hanging from a rack on the wall.  He took it and proceeded to wipe down the mirror.

 

One swipe of the towel and Ignis let out a startled oath.  The face of Ardyn Izunia was behind him, staring meaningfully at Ignis's back.  He spun around.  Nobody was in the bathroom with him.  Ignis turned around again slowly and put his hands on the sink to steady himself.

 

"Specs?"  It was Noctis's voice.  The door opened and Noctis entered.  "Is everything ok?"

 

"I'm fine, Highness," Ignis tried to steady his breath.

 

"No you're not fine, Iggy."  Noctis closed the gap between himself and Ignis and put his arms around his waist.  Noctis touched his advisor's back, running his fingers along the fresh scars.  Ignis was shaking again.  The worst scars crossed over each other, starting at either shoulder and slashing across in an angry checkered pattern.  Even with the help of the curatives, the wounds barely looked a week old.  Thankfully they had closed, but his skin was still mending itself underneath the heavy welts.  Several remained red and angry.  The places where flesh had been beaten completely off were sunken in slightly.  Where there had been nothing but open lacerations before the skin was raised and greenish hued bruises set along the tracks of scars.

 

Ignis's mind was racing.  His thoughts tracked backwards  and he could swear he felt the burning heat of Ardyn standing behind him touching his chest just seconds before the scythe was pulled across his chest.  His breathing sped up as he struggled to pull his mind into the present.  He was going to stand his ground against whatever this was.  Ardyn was to be given no quarter in his own mind.  His body shook involuntarily as Noctis's gentle fingers ran over the scars on his back, but he forced himself to remain where he was while Noctis touched the sensitive scar tissue.

 

Noctis quickly removed his hand as he sensed panic coming from Ignis, "It's only me Iggy."  Ignis turned around slowly this time and studied Noctis's face, just a couple of feet away.  He stepped closer to Noctis.

 

Noctis didn't look away first as he would have just a few months ago, Ignis noted.  The balance of power was shifting as he had hoped it would.  His liege was changing and his magic was growing stronger.  Ignis hadn't been imagining things.  Noctis's power surrounded him and charged the air with a static energy.

 

"Your power is growing stronger, Highness."  Ignis said quietly.

 

"I knew I could feel something changing.  I.. I can sense things now.  Things about you.  And Gladio and Prompto, too.  At first I thought I was imagining it, but now I'm not so sure."

 

Noctis looked up at Ignis, his eyes suddenly glowing like red embers as he reached out and touched one of the scars on Ignis's chest.  Ignis was immediately forced into the library of the Citadel behind a door fortified with a 26 combination lock.

 

_Noctis was hanging suspended with his arms above his head and held fast by chains.  His back was on fire and Ardyn stood before him with a bloody scythe._

 

_"NOCT!"  Ignis banged on the library door and ran quickly through the combination that opened the door._

 

_92-47-35-16-42-85-53-75-12-11-25-10-84-3-98-65-39-76-82-2-27-61-29-94-84-1.  The door opened easily and both he and Noctis were forced back into the bathroom of the Leville._

 

Ignis fell to his knees panting as he regained control of himself.  "Noct, NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!"  He raised his voice in fear of what had just happened. 

 

"Iggy, I'm sorry.  I just wanted to know if I could see what he'd done to you." Noctis stood up to leave, his head bowed in shame.  He had done something unthinkable by invading Ignis's thoughts and memories.  It was something he hadn't expected.

 

Ignis reached out and grabbed his wrist before he could leave, "Noct.  You can see what Ardyn did.  I have been seeing him in my dreams.  And just now I thought he was behind me in the mirror.  I feel him haunting my thoughts, Noct."

 

Noctis turned around, "Can I help you?"  His voice was quiet and timid at first, then turned harder.  "I can't stand the thought of him having any hold on you."

 

Ignis looked at Noctis, considering the changes that had come over them both.  This had always been somewhat obvious, that the feelings Ignis had for Noctis were mutual, though Ignis had pushed the possibility away time and again.  Now the rules had changed.  There was no one to watch them and nobody to gossip about them.  The only real danger of being closer was that Ignis knew he would be a living liability.  He stood up slowly, still feeling slightly shaky from whatever Noctis had done, and held out his hand.  Noctis allowed himself to be led to the bed. 

 

Ignis laid down after removing the wet towel.  Noctis hovered over him, a look of undisguised longing in his eyes.  "Highness, Ardyn can have no hold of me for as long as I am yours to command.  Forgive me for raising my voice.  I was… surprised.  And you mustn't let Ardyn into your thoughts like that.  I don't know what the consequences might be and it frightens me to think of what might come to pass if it had been you instead of me."

 

Noctis climbed on to the bed and straddled Ignis before resting his palm over Ignis's heart, splaying his fingers to touch as much of the other man's chest as possible.  Ignis shivered but laid still, ingraining the deep ocean-blue of Noctis's eyes in his mind.  Noctis slowly traced his fingers down the scar that ran from Ignis's chest to his lower left side.  He ran his fingers over the network of scars that crossed his chest, gently tracing each path the 9 tails had made.  The scars on his chest were fading thanks to the use of elixirs here instead of hi-potions that were used on his back but the scars would always be there; a strong reminder of the pain endured.  To Ignis it felt like fire and ice together.  It was as extremely pleasurable as the 9 tailed whip that had cut the wounds was excruciatingly painful.

 

Noctis's hand moved lower on Ignis's body, touching the scars on his lower abdomen until finally coming to rest on the scar that crossed over his cock.  Ignis kept his eyes focused on Noctis, trying to shut out the image of Ardyn.  Again he could almost feel Ardyn's inhuman heat pressed against his skin.

 

_"Does Noct ever touch you like this?"_

 

Ignis's heart sped up again and his thoughts careened between past and present.  His cock hardened painfully, swelling and stretching the scar across the width of it.  He groaned in between pain and pleasure as he felt Noctis's warm mouth glide over the head, licking the precum off the tip before circling lower. Ignis put his hands gently on the back of Noctis's head, tangling his fingers in the shock of black hair.  He looked down and saw Noctis languidly watching his reaction through glowing red eyes.

 

Ignis moaned in complete pleasure, wrapped in the sensation of Noctis's hot mouth around his cock.  He felt Noctis's mouth circle lower still and Ignis arched his back as the tip of his cock touched the back of Noctis's throat at the same time that Noctis's tongue swirled over the top of the scar.  Pleasure beat against Ignis's logical, ordered mind in the same way that pain had done so just a few nights ago when he had been suspended in chains from the ceiling.  He could feel Noctis's magic pulsating through his body it seemed, pumping through his veins.

 

Noctis closed his eyes and pulled up until just the tip was in his mouth before pushing down and taking the full length of Ignis into his throat again.  He did this several times until he felt Ignis was hitting his climax.  Then he lowered himself again and as he felt Ignis's engorged cock slide into his throat he felt the cock pulsate with cum.  Noctis swallowed it, savoring the salty flavor in his mouth before finally pulling completely off of Ignis.

 

Ignis was shaking with pleasure as he helped Noctis out of his clothes.  Late evening had settled in and Noctis laid down next to his advisor, not wanting anything more than to take the nightmares away.  As he laid with his advisor, he could see in his mind's eye the image of Ardyn reluctantly retreating.  There was still a long road ahead, but Noctis would see them all through to the end as long as it was within his power to do so.  Noctis kissed Ignis's lips and smiled as the kiss was passionately returned.  The night was just getting started and there was a lot of healing to do.


	6. Oath Keeper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gladio confronts Ignis about the Oath of Silence.

Gladio had not slept well.  The question weighing on his mind was driving him slowly crazy.  How could he confront Ignis?  He had known the man all his life and Ignis was counted among his closest friends, second only to Noctis.  So much had changed with the fall of Insomnia.

 

He stood at the Overlook, lost in thought.  To any passerby, he looked like he was simply admiring the view of the Disc of Cauthess.  The sun was high in the noonday sky.  They had both been too young to remember Headmaster Galdier's day in court.  It had happened within days after he had been rescued from the hands of the Empire.  His father had described the proceeding in great detail.

\---

 

_"Tarenz Consilium Galdier, you are here before the High Court of his Majesty King Regis Lucis Caelum to give an accounting of what transpired during your time in Imperial control."  Clarus Amicitia stood at the King's side and spoke in a loud, booming voice._

 

_Everyone in the King's court was gathered in the throne room for this formal hearing.  The man in question, Tarenz Galdier, was standing on the platform beneath the King's throne.  Galdier looked around the throne room at his jury, knowing what they were waiting for and took a knee before the King.  He waited as he heard the King's Shield descending to the platform from the King's side._

 

_Clarus drew his great-sword out of thin air and leveled it at Galdier, the sharp blade resting against the back of the kneeling man's neck.  "You have taken the Oath of Silence…" Clarus said quietly, "The truth you state before the throne will be your judge.  You know that one cannot lie before the King's Shield.  It is one of our talents- to be able to discern the truth without fail.  If you have broken the oath, you shall die here upon this sword."  He moved to stand in front of Galdier, just off to one side so the King could see the man being questioned.  The tip of his great-sword came to a stop, aimed directly at the hollow of Galdier's throat._

 

_Galdier was shaking, still slightly recovering from his injuries but also slightly in fear.  He had kept the oath and he knew of the King's Shield ability to detect even the most subtle of lies, but no one had survived the Empire's questioning without selling short the Oath of Silence prior.  Or so the history books read.  Still, if what was written about the King's Shield was truth, he had nothing to fear.  He drew in a deep breath to steady his voice._

 

_"I, Tarenz Consilium Galdier, have kept the Oath of Silence.  Even while questioned by the Empire.  Even while being tortured in the most brutal of ways, I kept my Oath to my King.  This I swear."_

 

_Clarus looked at Galdier and closed his eyes for just a few short seconds, weighing the truth in Galdier's words.  He let the sword vanish and turned to King Regis, "Headmaster Galdier speaks the truth.  He has kept the Oath.  This I swear upon my honor as the King's Shield."_

\---

 

Gladio sighed heavily and returned to the hotel.  Ignis would understand.  Surely Headmaster Galdier had told him about both being questioned by the Empire himself and about the proceedings shortly afterward.  The difference here was there was no throne room and no High Court.  But the Oath had to be observed so long as the King's line survived.  And Gladio was duty-bound to ensure Noctis's safety.  He squared his shoulders and took the most direct route to the hotel.  

 

He opened the door with a little more force than was necessary.  Noctis and Prompto were playing King's Knight while Ignis sat reading near the window in the large sitting area of their hotel suite.  Iris had come from Cape Caem to visit while they were held up in Lestallum as Ignis recovered. 

 

"Gladdy!"  She jumped up to greet her brother, then stopped short when she saw the burning fire in his amber eyes.

 

With a quick flourish, Ignis closed the book.  The others couldn't help but notice he had not bookmarked the page.  He knew why Gladio was here this morning.  He had been waiting nervously for this moment.

 

"Ignis, I know we don't have a formal throne room and that the High Court is no longer around.  But I still am duty-bound to have you give an accounting of your time under Imperial watch."  His amber eyes blazed like fire as he resolved to do what was needed as the King's Shield.  While he hoped and prayed to the Six that Ignis had not told the Imperial Chancellor anything, he drew his fury around him like a cloak to steel himself to fulfill his duty.

 

"What the hell, Gladio?"  Noctis stood up between Gladio and Ignis and Prompto looked uneasily from Ignis to Gladio to Noctis.  Iris looked like she wanted to be anywhere but in this room. 

 

"No, Noct."  Ignis said quietly as he stood and set the book down.  "This is part of the King's Shield's duty.  He… he has to uphold the Oath of Silence that is taken by the closest members of the King's Court."

 

"Yeah?  Well my court doesn't exactly exist…" Noctis protested.

 

"It does exist, Highness.  Your Advisor and Shield are intact."  Ignis stepped forward until he was between Noctis and Gladio.  His green eyes were soft and slightly frightened as he looked at Noctis in passing, then at Gladio.  His eyes returned to regard Noctis and he faced his King before he knelt on one knee before him.  He winced slightly as the new scars protested being stretched as he kneeled.  Noctis sensed the waves of fear coming from his Advisor.  "Ask me anything, Gladiolus," he whispered, "and I will answer with nothing but the truth.  I submit my life to the King's Shield to stand in judgment.  If you should find my words false, I will not resist."

 

Gladio stood next to Noctis and drew his great-sword.  He leveled the tip at the hollow of Ignis's throat so that Ignis was forced to look up at the both of them.

 

"Iggy.  You know how this works.  If you've become an Oath Breaker, I can't just let it go. This is my honor as the King's Shield on the line.  It's an Oath I took before my Father. I can't dishonor his memory."

 

Ignis nodded.  He knew from Headmaster Galdier's account what to expect, but it didn't leave him any less frightened.  Shortly after Headmaster Galdier told him of his time detained by the Empire, he also told Ignis about his trial.  Headmaster Galdier had been frightened as well, unsure of the judgement of Clarus Amicitia, though they had been friends since they were children.  Ignis tried to swallow his fear, hoping he wouldn't choke on it and looked up into Gladio's blazing amber eyes.

 

"Ignis Scientia, you have taken the Oath of Silence and the truth you now state before your King and his Shield will be your judge.  I will know even the smallest lie and if you have broken your Oath, then you will die upon this sword."

 

"Gladio!"  Noctis began to protest.  Gladio used his free arm to easily keep Noctis behind him and to the side where he could see Ignis.  Iris's breath hitched in her throat as she realized what was going on.

 

"Gladio, what are you doing buddy?"  Prompto came forward and reached out, but withdrew his hand as he saw Gladio's eyes.  This was the Gladio that was most often seen on the battlefield and this Gladio was one that would not be stopped.  "Why would Iggy betray us?"

 

Noctis struggled to get between Gladio and Ignis, "This isn't right and you know it!"  He could feel the pure rage coming from Gladio.  "Why are you so angry at Iggy?"

 

"Noct," Ignis called softly from where he knelt on the floor.  "Please, understand that this must happen.  Gladio is duty-bound to ensure your safety over all other things and if he believes that I have compromised the Oath of Silence, then... it is within his right; no it is his duty to determine the truth and to take action."  Ignis looked at Noctis.  There were rolling waves of fear coming from Ignis now as he returned to look at Gladio, "If I have broken my Oath, it falls upon the King's Shield to carry out my sentence.  Ask me your questions, Gladiolus Amicitia."

 

"I will have your answer Ignis.  Now, if you please.  Did you, under duress, reveal to the Empire any information as to the whereabouts of the Crown?  And did you reveal anything about our journey to the Chancellor?  Consider your words carefully."

 

Ignis took a deep breath to steady himself.  He couldn't help but feel nervous as he looked into the blazing amber eyes of the King's Shield.  Ultimately he needed to trust that Gladio would know the truth, just like his father before him.  "I, Ignis Scientia, have kept the Oath of Silence.  Even while under torture in the presence of the Empire's Chancellor I have kept my Oath to my King.  Upon my life, this I swear."  He looked Gladio in the eye as he spoke and waited.

 

Gladio pushed the great-sword forward slightly, "Answer the questions.  Did you, under duress, reveal to the Empire any information as to the whereabouts of the Crown?"

 

"No.  I did not.  And no, the Chancellor and the Empire know nothing of our journey."  Ignis felt the great-sword begin to press against his skin.  It reminded him of Chancellor Izunia's scythe, cold and sharp.  When he spoke again, his voice was quiet and submissive, "Gladiolus, you saw first hand what Chancellor Izunia did to me.  The whip fell across my shoulders 20 times.  Headmaster Galdier endured it 14 times.  He used an outlawed method of torture that was designed to kill me if it didn't elicit the answers he wanted.  The Chancellor cut me open multiple times with his favorite little toy, the same weapon he used to murder Headmaster Galdier in the Citadel.  He humiliated my body to try and break me and in the end, he brought me within an inch of my life.  Of this you may be certain; had you arrived even a bit later, he would have flayed my body until I was dead.  It came down to enraging him in the hopes he would kill me before I could speak.  And it worked.  He used the 9 tails on my chest 4 times and showed no signs of stopping until you arrived.  He was going to ask no more questions and instead was immersing himself in the process of painfully killing me."  Ignis thought of the man he had thought of as a father in many regards and his breath caught in his throat.  He spoke again in a voice barely above a whisper that was filled with emotion, "In the same way that you will not betray your father's memory, I will not betray the memory of Headmaster Galdier or my Uncle.  They all willingly gave their lives to ensure that we would escape and that some measure of all that Insomnia stood for would survive.  I swear to you, I told him nothing.  I will die before betraying Noctis."

 

Iris's breath hitched as she began to cry, "Please Gladdy," she whispered, "He's telling the truth..."

 

Gladio watched Ignis for a few long seconds, weighing the words that had been spoken.  He looked into Ignis's emerald green eyes.  They were soft and submissive as he waited patiently for sentencing.  Ignis kept very still with the great-sword at his throat.  The blade was pressed against his neck to the point where it was on the verge of breaking the skin.   Gladio held Ignis's life in his hands in that moment.  He could feel the Advisor's life-blood pumping in a gentle pulse through the great-sword.  And his judgement would determine if Ignis lived or died in the next several minutes.  As with his father, he was able to sense more than hear the words being spoken.  This was what his father had taught him to follow- the gut instinct of whether someone was telling the truth before the King or if they were lying.  It was several more seconds before his great-sword disappeared.  "Ignis is speaking the truth… "  He sounded very relieved.  He held out his hand to help Ignis stand.  "I'm sorry, Iggy.  I had to know.  I needed to hear you say it before I could just let this blow over."

 

Ignis accepted his friend's hand.  "I know Gladio.  Headmaster Galdier told me about his day in court shortly after he described his time captured by the Empire.  It was only a matter of time before you came to hold me accountable.  I'm relieved we don't have to pay for a new door."  He joked mildly before taking on a serious tone, "Or a new carpet."

 

"You're shaking. Are you ok?" Gladio let go of his hand after Ignis stood up.

 

"Gladio, for the rest of my days I hope to never be on the receiving end of your sword ever again."

 

Gladio grinned at Ignis, then at Noctis who still looked confused. 

 

"It's merely a part of protocol, Noct," Gladio explained.  "Iggy is an Oath Keeper.  Just like all the members of the royal court.  We're vowed to uphold an Oath of Silence, that no secret of the Kingdom of Lucis is to be uttered to an enemy of the state no matter the situation.  Anything we know that could be used against you goes to the grave with us before it's spoken to an enemy.  Iggy's only the second one in history that has successfully held the Oath against the Empire's worst.  The first was his mentor, your father's Advisor."

 

"Why doesn't anyone ever tell me these things?"  Noctis demanded.

 

"You would know if you hadn't neglected your studies," Ignis noted.

 

Noctis advanced on Ignis, and without willing it his eyes turned a subtle deep red color as he turned Ignis to face him.  Ignis jumped slightly in surprise.  Noctis's magic coiled around him and the power of the light of the Crystal ebbed through the heir of the throne.  It circled Ignis, capturing him in its thrall and commanding obedience.  Ignis thought about kneeling again but stood his ground as Noctis stood before him, hands clenched into fists.

 

"Why?"  Noctis held back his tears but looked up at Ignis, "Why did you let Ardyn bring you so close to death?  And for what?  There is nothing to hide from him, is there?  I saw what he did to you and... why?"  Noctis was frustrated.  

 

Ignis was silent for a moment before he spoke, "Noct, many people have given far more than I to see you safely forward and to ensure that the line of Lucis survives.  We have a lot to hide from the Empire- we have the surviving heir of the Lucian throne and if we are to see the Kingdom restored, you must be safeguarded at any and all costs, up to our lives.  You must know that I will follow you to whatever end, as your Advisor and as your friend."

 

"Doesn't make it any easier to swallow..."  Noctis smiled slightly, reached out, and gently smacked Ignis's left shoulder.  "I'm starving."

 

Iris finally relaxed and threw herself at her brother, smacking his broad chest.  "You're mean, Gladdy.  You looked like you really were ready to kill Ignis."

 

Gladio looked at his little sister, "That's because if Ignis had broken his oath, I would have been forced to kill him here and now.  I didn't want to believe he could.  But I had to be ready in case."

 

"How are you feeling, by the way?"  Gladio looked Ignis up and down.

 

"Much better.  I think we can prepare to leave in another day or two."  Ignis responded.

 

"Are you sure?"  Prompto asked.  "You took a pretty severe beating.  I'm impressed you didn't say anything at all…"

 

"I'll be fine, Prompto.  Thank you for your concern.  We must be on our way soon.  The longer we stay here, the more danger there is for us.  And for everyone that has helped to shelter us here."

 

"If you're sure, we'll leave tomorrow morning then,"  Noctis said.  "We can wrap things up here in Cleigne and head for Altissia in a few days."

 

"A moment..." Ignis said quietly.

 

"What's up Iggy?"  Gladio looked over.

 

"Chancellor Izunia let a few things slip during my interrogation that you all must know before we go any further."

 

Gladio turned to face him as did the others.

 

"Izunia is not Imperial-born.  I don't think Izunia is his surname at all.  But I can't see how that information matters or helps us in the end just yet.  Secondly, the Lady Lunafreya was in Insomnia when the attack on the capital began.  I have confirmed what Gentiana told Noct.  She has escaped the Empire and carries the Ring of the Lucii with her.  This is the real reason we mustn't tarry any longer than necessary.  Every day she eludes the Empire is a day that puts her in danger.  They know she has the Ring and will likely stop at nothing to obtain it.  We must find her first if we can and that means going to Altissia.  Surely that is where she means to rendezvous with Noct."

 

"I know you've barely started to heal, Iggy, but we are going to need to leave tomorrow then for sure.  Let's make preparations."  Gladio said, laying a fond hand on his friend's shoulder.  "All that torture and not only did you give them nothing, you managed to squeeze information out of Ardyn.  What a loser that guy is..."  He chortled and headed out of the room to begin preparations to leave.


End file.
